WINSTON, Mo. (Oct. 20)--Ryan
Gustin and Kris Jackson each
captured their first Summit
Racing Equipment USRA
Nationals titles in dramatic
fashion Saturday night at
the I-35 Speedway, winning
their third straight main
event to complete a sweep of
the weekend.

Meanwhile, the checkered
flag also waved for Mitch
Hovden, Tyler Schlumbohm and
Dakota Girard as they
captured their first wins of
the three-day affair.

After capturing Thursday
and Friday's feature races,
Gustin won Saturday's Pole
Dash and proceeded to lead
all 40 laps of the
championship finale to
increase his three-day take
home pay to $5,000.

Gustin, from Marshalltown,
Iowa, was chased from
beginning to end by Rodney
Sanders of Happy, Texas, who
held off USRA Modified
national points leader
Darron Fuqua of Mayetta,
Kan., for second place.

With a thrilling main
event victory, Decorah,
Iowa's Mitch Hovden took
a major step toward
securing his
record-setting fifth
national championship in
the Holley USRA Stock
Cars presented by
Medieval Chassis.

Hovden, who started on
the pole, saw out side front
row starter Todd Staley take
charge at the drop of the
green flag, and although
Hovden never lost sight of
the leader he was unable to
challenge for the spot
through the first 25 of 30
laps.

Following a
yellow flag with eight laps
to go, Thursday night winner
Brett Heeter of Kansas City,
Kan., drove underneath both
Staley and Hovden and tried
to slide into the top spot
but both Staley and Hovden
crossed underneath to retain
the top two spots.

With victory in sight,
Staley slid high in turn one
and his momentum carried him
over the banking while
Hovden and Heeter stormed
past to battle it out for
the win.

Heeter
attempted another slide job
but Hovden powered back in
front and was able to keep
Heeter at bay for the final
three circuits to garner the
$3,000 top prize while
Heeter settled for the
runner-up paycheck.

With his third-place finish,
Dillon Anderson of Decorah,
Iowa, locked up the 2018
Iron Man Challenge title.
Billy Hoover of
Stewartville, Mo., and
Brayden Gjere of Mabel,
Minn., completed the top 5.

Kris Jackson of Lebanon,
Mo., laid down 30 flawless
laps and took home his third
Out-Pace USRA B-Mod victory
in as many nights and
earning $3,000 for his 29th
win of the season.

Zach Sanders of Kearney,
Mo., started next to Jackson
on the front row and held on
through thick lapped traffic
to claim the runner-up money
while 14-year-old Dillon
McCowan of Urbana, Mo.,
advanced five spots to
finish third.

The
Cook Racing Supplies USRA
Hobby Stocks kicked off the
main event action and set a
high bar for the next four
feature races to come, and
although Tyler Schlumbohm
led all 20 laps of the race
it was anything but easy for
the Sioux Falls, S.D.,
racer.

Schlumbohm,
along with Jamie Songer of
Ankeny, Iowa; Eric Stanton
of Carlisle, Iowa; and
national points leader
Dustin Gulbrandson of Sioux
Falls, S.D., raced four-wide
out of turn 2 with five laps
remaining.

After
settling down the next time
around, Schlumbohm and
Stanton pulled out front and
the pair powered
door-to-door out of the
final corner with Schlumbohm
nipping Stanton by a bumper
at the finish line.

Songer held off Gulbrandson
for third place while Brady
Link of Waukon, Iowa,
crossed the stripe in fifth.
Tracy Halouska, Thomas
Kracht, Steve Larson, Cory
Kelderman and Josh Bradley
rounded out the top 10
finishers.

Dakota Girard of
Moberly, Mo., grabbed a
late-race lead from Seth
Scholl of Holmen, Wis., and
went on to become the first
USRA Tuner champion of the
Summit USRA Nationals.

Jeremiah Anderson of La
Crosse, Wis., claimed the
runner-up spot with Alvin
Cooney of Mexico, Mo.,
grabbing the third position.
Nathan Castellano of Des
Moines, Iowa, was fourth and
fifth went to David Miller
of St. Joseph, Mo.